Words From Woods

Independence… it’s a good thing

Last month I introduced you to my family. I stated how fortunate I am to be able to have my wife Midge, the office manager, my son Ian, an Investment Advisor Representative and my daughter Lacy, administrative assistant, on board. Together, we strive to create a family atmosphere in the office while providing a professional corporate level experience in the solving of our clients’ retirement income and financial concerns. These are distinct advantages – for us and for our clients.

But the most impactful advantage (again for us and our clients) of working with us is that we are INDEPENDENT. What does that mean, and how does that affect our business and, more importantly, you?

I worked for a major financial institution (Insert patriotic name here) for much of my 38 year career. I was what is called a “captive agent.” In a nutshell, that meant that I could only deal with a limited contract and product line.

There are upwards of 1700 insurance companies out there that are safe, strong, well-financed and backed by multiple layers of state and federal regulations. Many are specialists in one type of contract or another. Being independent allows me to use ANY company or ANY product or contract that I want or need to solve my clients’ problems and to help them reach their income and accumulation goals. In fact, Woods Financial is among a very elite, limited, number of agencies across the countries that are especially trained in ways to enhance income generation. And that’s a distinct advantage for our clients because captive agents, banks and brokerages limit their agents to a finite number of companies and contracts. We are under no such restrictions and can use whoever has the best plan for our clients’ unique situation. In other words, we customize each case we take on for our clients…because we can! Can the bank agent, broker or “captive” agent make that statement?

Oh, I was once asked, “…wouldn’t your ability to use any company out there be an incentive for you to use the company that pays you the most?” Good question.

Like I said earlier, 38 years of service to clients, 20 of those years right here in Chesapeake. You don’t “stay” in business for that long unless you put your clients’ needs first!